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Seaholm Offers Hard-to-Get Wines for Aficionados, Bargain Bottles, Too.

One of Huntington's oldest wine merchants is its largest with more than 2,500 labels.

You won’t find any plonk at Seaholm Wines & Liquors in Huntington.

Ted Ryder and his partner, John Reilly, make sure all the wine they sell is quality stuff.

Ryder said the store carries better wines than many area competitors, due in part to the experience he, Reilly and their staff have and because of the affluence of their customers.

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Their store at 8,00 square feet - not counting basement storage space, is the largest in Huntington and among the largest on all of Long Island. They carry about 2,500 different products.

And it is because of their numerous high-end customers, that the duo are able to snag hard-to-get wines from such rarified California wineries as Peter Michael and others of that type. “There an interest in Huntington in these wines given people’s ability to buy,” says Ryder, who has co-owned the store since 1976.  Ryder became a partner in the store in 1999. 

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That doesn’t mean, however, they can’t satisfy less knowledgeable or less well-heeled customers.  “Most people who come in are looking for bottles of wine in the $10-$20 range. A few years ago, Ryder said, customers were seeing wines in the $$8 to $15 range.

Ryder, who does most of the wine buying, is always seeking new wines.  “I probably taste 3, 000 wine a year,” he explained.  “Everything I buy I try.”

He says he rejects three-quarters of the wines he samples each year. 

There are, he admitted, a few exceptions, notably top Bordeaux wines.  Such high-quality wines, he says, don’t need to be tasted.

“It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to tell if a wine is good, very good, excellent or outstanding,” Ryder said. But it does take a lot of experience tasting.  “We have people who go to a lot of tastings,” he said of his staff.

“The trick is to seek out good values,” he says “We look for sleepers."

That may mean carrying a tannat, a red wine made from a French grape that’s grown in Uruguay. “It’s a great wine,” Ryder said.

That often means handselling some of the wines, telling customers they can return a bottle if they’re unhappy. “I can’t recall when someone’s brought a bottle back,” he noted.

Ryder was an early supporter of Long Island wines and the store still carries a broad selection. He visits East End wineries several days each year to stay on top of the industry. 

Reilly, who also has years of wine experience as a salesman for wine importer Bonsai Segerman and as the fine wine manager of another Long Island store, travels to France every year, mostly to Burgundy and Champagne, to sniff out wines the big importers ignore.

Ryder said most people don’t understand the importance of knowing who produced a wine. Great producers can make good wine in both good and poor vintages. “The producer is so critical,” he said.

Seaholm’s history goes back 66 years, when Carl Seaholm, just returned from World War II Army service, opened the store. Ted Ryder and former partner Royce Waterman bought the store, then on New York Avenue, in 1976. In 1983, they had the current building on Wall Street built and moved to bigger quarters.  John Reilly became a partner in 1999, around the time Waterman retired. 

Ryder, originally a teacher, a union officer, and a negotiator, got interested in wine at 16, when a visiting uncle from New Orleans poured him a glass of Bouchard Puligny Montrachet at Thanksgiving. Ryder, who holds an Advanced Certificate in Wine from the International Wine Center in New York, for many years taught a wine class at Huntington High School. Over the past 35 years he has visited famous winemakers in almost every important wine-producing region in the world, except New Zealand and Australia. He next trip, he said will be in September, when he travels to Provence in France.

Ryder clearly is a Francophile when it comes to personal wine preference. He says he enjoys Bordeaux, Burgundy, sauvignon blanc from the Loire and Syrah and grenache from the Rhone. 

Reilly, too, says he has a French bent, albeit more tightly focused on Burgundy. He said he travels to Burgundy or France every year.

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Tastings:

Seaholm has as French wine tasting scheduled for tomorrow, 3:30-6:30 p.m.. Wines to be sampled included a red Rhone; a Beaujolais cru, a Muscadet and a rose from Chinon.

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Phil Ebel V, director of sales and operations of Great South Bay Brewery will be at Big Z Beverage from 1 - 4 p.m. pouring samples of Massive IPA, Blonde Ambition Ale, Robert Moses Pale Ale, and Snaggletooth Stout. He'll also be filling growlers and answering questions about the brewery and brewing process.

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Bottles & Cases will be pouring samples tomorrow of Skinny Girl Margarita, Bartenura Pinot Grigio. Bartenura Moscato, Segal's Fusion Red Blend, and Herzog Jeunesse Semi Dry Cabernet 1-4 p.m.; Root Liqueur, Pama Pomegranate Liqueur,  Chambord Black Raspberry Liqueur and Korbel Brut, 4-7 pm. On Saturday, patrons can sample Maker's Mark Mint Juleps and Maker's 46, Nuvo Sparkling Vodka, Cocoa di Vine Chocolate Wine, Browne Cabernet, Sherwood Sauvignon Blanc, Square One Organic Vodka and DeMontal Armagnac VSOP, Bertani Due Uve, Cavit Riesling, Feudi Rubrato, Rocca delle Macie Chianti Classico and Aperol Aperitif1-4 p.m., Vizcaya Gold VXOP Rum, Tito's Handmade Vodka, Columbia Crest Grand Estates Chardonnay and Merlot, Santa Cristina Sangiovese and Domaine Ste. Michelle Brut, 4-7 p.m.

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Superstar Beverage will be sampling Brooklyn Brewery beers today from 4-8 p.m.

 

 

 

 

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